Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe - Iom

Trafficking in Human Beingsin Southeastern EuropeVictim Referraland AssistanceSystem andGaps ThereinReintegration reaches only 7 % of trafficked women and girlsObstaclesRemedies• Weak reintegration programmes due tolack of funding and co-operationbetween government, NGOs and internationalorganisations.• Lack of support from Governments, wholeave all responsibility to internationalagencies.• Disempowerment of local NGOs andlack of capacity.• Shame and stigma of being labelled asa prostitute.• Discrimination against women and girlsin general, lack of opportunities, lowsocial position of women, bad economicsituation, unemployment, and familyviolence.• Implementation of NPAs - commitmentof governments, international agenciesand local NGOs to organise and run reintegrationprogrammes within NPA framework.• Cooperation with and funding for NGOs.• Long term programmes leading to sustainability:social and legal support, educationand vocational training, reschoolingin skills relevant to local needs,sustainable jobs, system of micro-credits.• Counselling and long-term support fortraumatised victims.• Special support to girls under 18.• Programme to raise awareness and preventionprogrammes.• Empowerment of women and girls.2.4. ProsecutionThe current situation is characterised by the following:• Majority of trafficked persons do not receive assistance;• Some of the victims are returned to the same conditions that originallycaused them to be trafficked;• Some are trafficked again, after taking part in return and reintegrationprogrammes;• New women are being trafficked to the Balkans and Western Europe.In this context, there is a danger that the whole system of victim assistanceand reintegration will have to expand to accommodate still bigger groups ofwomen and girls if trafficking is not stopped. Prosecution of traffickers, therefore,is an essential part of the system.At this moment, prosecution is the weakest part of the whole anti-traffickingsystem in SEE. Even if, in some countries, there are many people arrested andcharged with trafficking, very few are prosecuted and sentenced. In countrieswhere there is no anti-trafficking legislation, this is presented as the obstacleto prosecution, although the existing law, if applied, is usually sufficient toprosecute traffickers for crimes of kidnapping, slavery, sale, rape, etc. 166 Incountries where there is a new anti-trafficking law, corruption of the localpolice, who are deliberately not taking any action against traffickers, is thereforehighlighted. However, in BiH, where international police (IPTF) accompanylocal police or in Kosovo, where international police (CIVPOL) areresponsible for anti-trafficking actions, there are not many more cases of successfulprosecution in comparison with other places.In Kosovo, the new legislation, which came into force in January 2001, notonly allows traffickers to be arrested but also enterprises suspected of facilitatingtrafficking to be closed and the assets gained from trafficking to be confiscated.However, until the end of November 2001, there had been just a fewcases of prosecution of traffickers and only one person had been sentenced.Not one bar was shut down permanently and there were no cases of assetsbeing confiscated. The lack of witness protection programmes, a complicatedlaw that is not understood by judges, lack of training for law enforcementagencies and the judiciary, and corruption among not only local police but also146166.For example, see OSCE legal review of Albanian legislation: „Review of Albanian Legislationon Trafficking in Human Beings”, 5 April 2001, OSCE, Tirana, Albania.